The rocks of Parfrey's Glen tell stories that are millions of years old.(Photo: Keith Uhlig/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

BARABOO - I'm deeply ashamed to admit that I learned about Parfrey's Glen through Pinterest.

The glen was part of one of those listicles that are so popular with youngsters nowadays. But hey, even though I'm on the downhill side of 50, when I see something such as "10 Hikes You MUST DO in Wisconsin," I just have to click. Most of the time, I am rewarded by the feeling of smug satisfaction that comes from being told something obvious about something one has known about for years: "Copper Falls? Pfft. I was there in 1975."

But this was different. There was a picture of Parfrey's Glen among the list, and it was otherworldly, a rugged valley so lush and green I had the fleeting thought the photo might be faked. Maybe it was a still photo of Rivendale from one of the "Lord of the Rings" movies? I half expected an elf to be standing tall along the stream with a bow slung over her shoulder.

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The maintained trail ends as you enter Parfrey's Glen. Then you have to scramble along the creek and over rocks.(Photo: Keith Uhlig/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

I did some more research by typing Parfrey's Glen into Google. Whoa. More photos of Edenic scenery, steep rock walls covered in moss, a little stream meandering through them. A couple more clicks, and I learned that Parfrey's Glen was designated Wisconsin's first state natural area in 1952.

I have no idea why I had never heard of Parfrey's Glen before seeing the online info about six months ago. After all, it is the one of the most-visited natural areas in the state, along with Devil's Lake State Park, just west of the glen. I could not stand my ignorance, and the photos made the place look so inviting, I decided it should be my first destination for the 2018 Go Deep Wisconsin Project.

Parfrey's Glen received the designation as a natural area because it's such a unique, special place. The geology of the glen tells the story of the Earth going back millions of years. Because the glen is cool and wet, there are rare plant species there, and it's home to interesting insects such as diving beetles and caddisflies, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

There are now more than 687 state natural areas in Wisconsin, over 400,000 acres of land protected because they play host to significant plants and animals, notable geological features or important archaeological sites. The most recent designation was just last year, Grand Island in Marinette County, said Thomas Meyer, a conservation biologist with the program.

But there is an element of challenge required to explore deep into Parfrey's. A boardwalk was destroyed by flood a few years ago, and now hikers have to scramble over rocks and navigate the stream. All this made me want to visit the place even more.

I recruited my cousin-in-law Brian Holtebeck to accompany me on this foray. He and I once biked the length of Mountain-Bay State Trail together. He's a great guy, even when he tells stories about his old debating days. (He and my cousin Jenny met while debating for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.)

He's also a pharmacist. Unfortunately, he's an ethical pharmacist, so he won't provide medications that could enhance physical performance or perception in an outdoors experience. However, he does bring with him a certain medical expertise that often comes in handy.

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Parfrey's Glen was designated a State Natural Area in 1952, the first in Wisconsin.(Photo: Keith Uhlig/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

It was cold on Saturday when Brian and I visited the glen, maybe around 5 degrees or so. I thought winter would be a great time to visit Parfrey's Glen because I presumed that the creek would be frozen so we could simply walk on the ice up to the small waterfalls at the head of the glen.

When we got to the rugged area of the trail, it was quite obvious that this plan was not well thought out. "You know about moving water, right?" Brian asked when we reached a tricky area.The ice was about an inch thick with holes in it, and water gurgled below. Moving water, of course, doesn't allow thick ice to form on it.

"Well, yeah, but I thought the cold would have overcome it," I said.

The water, the steep banks and ice all made hiking a challenge. Ice was almost everywhere. There were plumes of ice bulging out of the walls of the glen, from runoff seeping through the earth. There was ice coating the rocks along and in the creek. So we picked out way quite slowly through this landscape.

Look, we wouldn't have died if we had fallen, but neither Brian nor I wanted to get wet feet (best case scenario) or sprained or broken bones (worst). So we were cautious.

And the deeper we got into the glen, the more we wanted to continue. It's a compelling place, on so many levels.

It certainly is so for Keith Montgomery, a regional executive officer and dean for UW Colleges. Before he became an administrator, he was a geology professor at the University of Wisconsin Marathon County. He wrote a paper on the geology of the Baraboo area called "The Baraboo Ranges and Devil's Lake Gorge: A Geologic Tour."

Part of the paper is a decidedly unscientific description of the glen: "Parfrey's Glen is cut into the south side of the South Range, about 4 miles east of Devil's Lake. It is a magical, enchanted place."

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Trails offer a variety of views on the property of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, land that once inspired conservationist and writer Aldo Leopold.(Photo: Keith Uhlig/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

The ring of Baraboo Hills make up an oval around the town that is about 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. Those hills are made of tough quartzite rock, Montgomery wrote, which has withstood for eons the forces of erosion including wind, water and ice. Rib Mountain near Wausau is also made of quartzite.

Montgomery theorizes that Parfrey's Glen was cut out by meltwater from glaciers during the Pleistocene era (which began around 2.6 million years ago and lasted to about 11,700 years ago), in part because if it had formed earlier than that, the ravages of time would have "lowered the angle of its walls by now."

It's a simple formula for a good adventure: Time + water / (rocks) = great hiking fun.

After Parfrey's Glen, Brian and I fortified ourselves with hot coffee and scones at Coffee Bean Connection in Baraboo, an altogether pleasing place to eat and drink after a hike. Brian mocked my devotion to scones. Scones have become my pastry of choice. They differ greatly from place to place, and almost always give me a tasty boost of energy. They are sort of like an energy bar, only real instead of plastic-y. I noticed that, despite his derision, Brian ordered one for himself. We were very happy with our choice.

So happy, in fact, that we tacked on another hike to our day, this one on the grounds of the Aldo Leopold Foundation. It's located on the property where Leopold once lived, thought and wrote, the inspiration for Leopold's classic collection of essays "A Sand County Almanac." It's easy to understand how that place could help hone his Land Ethic.

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"When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." -- At the memorial for Aldo Leopold.(Photo: Keith Uhlig/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)